Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein has a number of reasons to be unhappy with his 19-30 club, but the one that really sticks out to him is the club’s lagging on-base percentage, which was under .300 prior to this afternoon’s game against the Reds. At .299, their mark was ahead of only the Marlins, Nationals, and Mets. As a result, they have scored the fifth-fewest runs in the league, averaging 3.85 per game.

“There is certainly a snakebit quality to it with respect to our timing,” team President Theo Epstein said. “But to me the biggest factor is our inability to draw walks and to get on base overall. On-base skills translate to run-scoring much more than slugging skills.

“To be blunt, we haven’t made much progress improving the on-base skills of some of the players here. If we can’t make improvements with the existing group, we will have to be even more aggressive acquiring players with on-base skills.”

The Cubs’ 6.1 percent walk rate ranks dead last in baseball despite averaging nearly four pitches per plate appearance. The main culprits are Nate Schierholtz, Starlin Castro, Alfonso Soriano, and Welington Castillo, who all have walk rates under five percent while having taken at least 140 trips to the plate.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)